onsen and japan
So I’m throwing out my Sydney plans after DH had strong objections about it. We have finally agreed on a trip to Japan this autumn and that is certainly something I am looking forward to. For the last two days, I’ve been reading travel forum and finding out more about the land of the rising sun. My first trip to Tokyo was dated 1998 and at that time, I didn’t even have time to visit Mount Fuji.
The healing benefits of onsen in Japan have been widely known by locals, tourists and holiday makers. An onsen (???) is a term for hot springs in the Japanese language though the term is often used describe the bathing facilities and inns around the hot springs. A volcanically active country, Japan has thousands of onsen scattered along its length and breadth. Onsen were traditionally used as public bathing places and today play a central role in directing Japanese domestic tourism.
In fact, there were good testimonials of alcohol rehab patients who benefit from the onsens (hot springs) when used as part of the treatment methods. Autumn is also a beautiful season of oranges, yellows and goldie hues - not overly cold but mild enough for tropical folks like us. Hmm… I’m already counting down the months to November… perhaps it’s time to refresh my forsaken Japanese spoken language too 
May 28th, 2008 at 3:49 am
Hey, you should go to Hokkaido Noboribetsu to try onsen. I tried that before & it was awesome!